All-Tech Raceway
Marylander dives in for first Speedweeks run
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Justin Weaver of Clear Spring, Md. (DirtonDirt)
ELLISVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 18) — Justin Weaver’s annual work bonus went unclaimed. Instead of pocketing the extra cash without any second thoughts, the 32-year-old head of the electrical department for Hagerstown, Md.-based construction company Henry & Sons traded that in for the opportunity to chase a long-held ambition.
“Basically, every year I get a bonus based on how much I make annually in sales, and I turned that bonus down and just asked for more vacation,” the Clear Spring, Md., racer said. “The boss said, ‘So basically you’re just asking for two more full paychecks instead of that bonus?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, pretty much.’ ”
That decision — a gamble or well-timed investment, depending on how the next few weeks unfold — takes Weaver to All-Tech Raceway for the season-opening tripleheader on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Aboard the Rich and M.J. Whitfield-owned No. 32J with Shermansdale, Pa., driver Shaun Jones on the wrenches, Weaver is slated to contest the opening eight Lucas Oil events of the 2026 season, starting with Friday’s 40-lap, $10,000-to-win program at All-Tech through Feb. 28’s Weiland Winternationals event at Ocala (Fla.) Speedway, which hosts five events.
While Weaver has made the pilgrimage to Georgia-Florida Speedweeks before, this marks his first time attending the popular Dirt Late Model wintertime meet as a competitor instead of a spectator.
“Shaun’s always wanted to do it, and I’ve always wanted to do it too,” Weaver said. “We just never really had enough resources or equipment to come down here and race this hard for a couple weeks. Putting both teams together finally gave us what we needed to be here.”
Opportunities are broader than ever for Weaver this season, the three-time Late Model Sportsman champion at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. He’s assembling a packed Super Late Model special-event schedule while splitting time between rides for the Whitfields and Taneytown, Md.-based car owner Chaz Walls.
Armed with a 5-race-old Longhorn Chassis he and Jones are employing this weekend at All-Tech Raceway — with another brand-new Longhorn on order from the China Grove, N.C., manufacturer — Weaver believes he now has the equipment to compete in higher-profile events.
That includes the full Appalachian Mountain Speedweek slate from June 5-14, along with multiple Mid-Atlantic stops on the Lucas Oil Series: April 24-26 at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway, BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa., and his home track of Hagerstown. He’s also eyeing a World of Outlaws Late Model Series run from May 13-17 at Georgetown, Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway, Marion Center (Pa.) Raceway’s Friday-Saturday doubleheader and Bedford (Pa.) Speedway.
Weaver also plans to chase the Saturday-night points title at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway and race regularly at Selinsgrove, which runs weekly programs on Saturdays just over a half-hour northeast of Port Royal — schedules that don’t conflict regarding Super Late Model dates.
And if time and budget allow, Weaver hopes to step outside his regular haunts. Tracks in New York, Ohio and West Virginia are all possibilities, with a trip to the legendary Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on his wish list.
“It's definitely possible. I mean, we’ve got the truck and stuff to travel now, and I think we're definitely gonna be able to get out more because we have more equipment to race off of now,” Weaver said. “I think there's a definite possibility that we're going to venture out and run some bucket-list items. I wouldn't rule it out, you know, Eldora’s definitely on my bucket list. So I can't say that we are, but wouldn't rule it out.”
Weaver’s first All-Tech laps in Wednesday’s practice night weren’t anything flashy — his fastest lap of 17.125 seconds, fell far shy of Brandon Overton’s practice-pacing 16.366-second lap — but that’s OK in the grand scheme because he picked up on the character of the tricky half-mile.
“We had speed right out of the box pretty good, then we just kind of tried a couple things and found some stuff that didn't work. I found stuff that did work, but definitely a different place,” Weaver said. “I've never experienced anything like this place, just as slick as it is. It's got patchy spots of grease and then tractioned up, almost like tack. Finding the traction, you know, and being maneuverable ... I just got to get used to that. We don't experience that back home.
“Most time back home, it's tractioned up, you know, tack wherever you go. But this place is, I don't know. I told them guys it's almost like river mud to me, the clay that's on the place. I think we gained a little bit and we'll build off of it for tomorrow, and see what we got. ... We should be able to qualify and put it in the show.”
Overall, Weaver is doing his best to temper expectations and keep the mood light this weekend as he faces stiff competition in a field that includes 11 drivers from DirtonDirt’s first Top 25 poll of 2026 released Tuesday.
“Definitely a new experience for me and we're just down here to have fun, man,” Weaver said. “Just go out and race with some of these guys and be competitive. There’s no real big expectations. Obviously, we're here to win, but just have fun, man, for two weeks.”
Weaver has enjoyed modest success in the Super Late Model ranks over the years, with his most recent victories in the division coming in back-to-back fashion at Port Royal Speedway in July 2024. He is also the all-time wins leader of the now-defunct Mason-Dixon Shootout Series, piling up 10 victories over a three-year span along with the 2018 championship on the former tour for steel-block Late Models that crisscrossed Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
His performances when the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series ventures into his backyard is respectable. Weaver has qualified for 13 of his 18 career starts on the tour, including four of six events last season and all four 2024 appearances. Finishes of 12th at Georgetown and 13th at Port Royal last April marked respectable showings against national-caliber fields
“I feel like we've had success. I don't know that we've had the results we wanted,” Weaver said. “We’ve almost run in the top 10 at Port Royal one time with Lucas, which was pretty cool. But, yeah, I mean, we've been competitive. We've been successful, I think.”
Once the season gets underway, Jones will join Weaver as a teammate in a multi-car effort fielded by the Whitfields. The partnership took shape last October, when the two sides teamed up for the final four Jim Bernheisel-promoted Fall Clash events at Hagerstown, Bedford, Georgetown and Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md.
Weaver finished 14th, seventh, seventh and 10th but showed enough raw speed to convince both camps that committing to the opening two weeks of the Lucas Oil Series would be worthwhile.
“We had speed at the end of the year. That's kind of what brought this on is we had a lot of qualifying speed last year,” Weaver said. “We just couldn't really get that long-run speed, and we kind of thought by coming down here and getting extra laps in before we go back home, we can try to learn something from it.”
